Three years after making this movie, in which they play father and daughter, Ralph Fiennes and Felicity Jones played lovers in The Invisible Woman. In a 2013 interview with Jones and Fiennes on NPR, Jones said that it was "weird" and "very Freudian" to go from playing one relationship to the other, but Fiennes disagreed, saying "It's just a job. Come on."

The original title was "The Men at the Pru", an advertising slogan for the Prudential insurance company. During the writing of the film, the Prudential allowed Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to use their archives for research. However, after reading the finished script, the company decided it didn't like how it was being portrayed and refused to allow the usage of their name. The new title comes from an actual area in the town of Reading, where the film takes place.

The period depicted in the film - 1973 - was one of great political upheaval. The country was beset by skyrocketing inflation, battered by the oil crisis, while the incumbent Conservative government was locked in a bitter battle with the trade unions. This led to widespread strikes of all services and a 3-day working week.